57 - Chapter 55: Resolve
The video that had just arrived was a new clip of Natalia and Han Su-hyeon having sex.
"Ah..., ah...."
As she watched, Jin Seo-yun let out a dazed, breathless whimper.
Even though she had just climaxed from a round of masturbation and was deep in post-nut clarity, she felt a powerful, sudden urge.
In a frantic rush, she yanked her panties off again and began to touch herself. In less than five minutes, she climaxed. It wasn't the tedious, frustrating release from before, but an incredibly intense, refreshing peak that wiped her mind completely blank.
"Oh..., ohhh...."
Jin Seo-yun closed the video, basking in the warm afterglow. As she lay there in a daze, her phone suddenly rang.
"Phew...."
She didn't want to answer; she hated having her afterglow ruined. But since the obnoxious ringing had already shattered the mood anyway, she reluctantly picked up.
"Who is this?"
[It's me.]
"Ah...."
Natalia's voice came through the speaker—the exact same voice she had been listening to in the video just moments ago.
Having only watched Natalia through videos for so long, Jin Seo-yun panicked at the sudden, direct contact.
"Y-Y-You...! Why are you sending this to me?!"
[Well, don't you like this kind of thing?]
"What...?"
[No need to play dumb. It's not as weird of a fetish as you think. I mean, aren't there women out there who invite a third party over to fuck their husbands? And there's a huge demand for NTR in the adult market, too.]
'No... No, that's not it...'
[If not that, then what?]
Unable to deny that she had the NTR fetish Natalia described, Jin Seo-yun stammered as she tried to keep up.
"I'm asking why you're sending them to me."
[Ah, that?]
"Even if I do have that kind of fetish, that doesn't explain why you're sending them to me."
Natalia chuckled softly at Jin Seo-yun's surprisingly logical point.
[Yeah, you're right. How should I put it... the first video was just me wanting to show off.]
"...Teabagging the loser?"
[You could look at it that way. Anyway, the second video is a proposal of sorts.]
"A proposal?"
[Yeah, a proposal. If you pay me, I'll send you videos like that every month from now on.]
"Ha...."
Jin Seo-yun gasped in disbelief at Natalia's utterly bizarre proposal.
"Don't you... already have more money than you know what to do with?"
[True. But I'm retiring as a hunter.]
"Retire? All of a sudden?"
[Of course, even after I retire, I'll have more than enough to live on for the rest of my life. I've made good investments, so the money won't stop coming in.]
"T-Then why...?"
[Just because. It's always nice to have another stream of income.]
"Haa....."
Jin Seo-yun's head spun at the absurd proposal. She let out a heavy sigh.
[So? Are you in, or are you out?]
"...I'm in."
Naturally, logic and lust operated on entirely different tracks.
"Mmm...."
An Su-min, the woman who had given the speech in that gloomy building, frowned as she scanned the newspaper.
Today's headlines were dominated by the sudden retirement of an S-rank hunter.
The news deeply irritated her.
'They shamelessly enjoy all those privileges for doing what anyone with power should naturally do, and now they're just abandoning their duties?'
To An Su-min's twisted, self-righteous logic, this was an unforgivable betrayal.
'I don't like this... Natalia, was it?'
As she reviewed the files she had gathered on the S-rank hunter, something felt off.
'Wait. According to her profile, she's the type who would rather die fighting in a gate than ever retire.'
What could have caused such a sudden change of heart?
An Su-min slowly stood up, weighing the possibilities.
'I need to look into this.'
Decision made, she slipped out of her hideout.
Walking down the street, An Su-min rummaged through her bag and pulled out a stack of fake business cards.
"Hmm..., this one will do."
She flipped through them and selected one.
It identified her as a reporter for a major media outlet.
Armed with her new identity, An Su-min immediately set out to arrange a meeting with a certain veteran hunter.
He was someone who had frequently raided alongside Natalia.
"So, what brings a reporter all the way out here to see me?"
The veteran hunter toyed with the card she had handed him, then tossed it aside without even looking at it.
Despite his dismissive attitude, An Su-min kept her polite smile firmly in place.
"I have a few questions regarding Hunter Natalia Chae's retirement."
"Ah."
The veteran hunter nodded in understanding.
"Is this for an interview?"
"Something like that."
"Am I going to be in the article?"
"That depends on the editors. As a mere reporter, I can't give you a definitive answer."
"Tch, boring."
Despite his grumbling, he didn't make any move to leave.
Instead, he picked up his teacup and took a sip.
"So? What's so important that you dragged me all the way out here?"
"I was just curious... what triggered Hunter Natalia's decision to retire? Was there some kind of event that caused a change of heart?"
"A trigger, huh..."
He tapped his fingers on the table, mulling it over.
'He definitely knows something.'
An Su-min noted his reaction.
Her intuition was spot on. The veteran hunter smirked and spoke up.
"Well, it's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't quite recall. I've been incredibly busy lately, you see."
He trailed off suggestively, playing dumb.
An Su-min kept her smile plastered on while screaming curses inside her head.
'Son of a bitch. He's fishing for a bribe. He already makes a fortune, and he's still this greedy? I bet he doesn't give a single cent back to society.'
But since she had anticipated this, she reached into her bag and pulled out a prepared envelope.
"Of course. This is to cover your valuable time and cooperation."
"Hmm."
He slid his hand over and subtly gauged the thickness of the envelope. A satisfied smirk spread across his face.
"Ah, right. It's coming back to me now."
"Is that so?" she chuckled.
"The lady got herself a lover. She finally settled down after a pretty wild run. Someone who used to live only for today suddenly started thinking about tomorrow. I guess she realized she has too much to lose if she dies in some dungeon."
"Ah... so it's not just a casual fling?"
"Exactly. I saw them together once, and they were practically dripping with honey. I honestly thought I was looking at a completely different person."
Hearing that, a specific incident flashed through An Su-min's mind.
A graduating D-rank hunter cadet who had brutally beaten his school's baseball coach in a bar restroom.
Natalia had been the one to step in and cover up the entire incident.
'Just what kind of relationship do they have for her to go that far for him?'
She would need to dig deeper to be absolutely sure, but even without the proof, she could easily connect the dots.
Realizing she had just found her breakthrough, a genuine, wide smile spread across her face.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
"They said I can't retire immediately. There are all kinds of procedures, so it'll take about a month."
"Is that so?"
Natalia spoke softly, cradling Han Su-hyeon on her lap.
"But... do you really have to keep doing dangerous hunter work?"
Han Su-hyeon gave a light nod.
"I have to make a living somehow."
"I'm the one feeding and housing you anyway."
"No one knows what the future holds. I need at least a basic safety net."
"Is that so...?"
Natalia fell silent. Uncharacteristically, she hesitated, opening and closing her mouth.
She almost gave up on the idea, but she forced herself to speak, knowing that if she didn't say it now, she never would.
"Th-then... should we g-get married or something?"
"What?"
"I-if we get married... that would give you a legal safety net."
Han Su-hyeon stared at her, genuinely taken aback.
He clearly never expected a word as heavy as 'marriage' to come out of her mouth.
He fell silent for a moment, processing it, before slowly nodding.
"...That's true."
"R-Right?"
"Should we do it? Get married, I mean."
"Really?"
"Why would I bring it up if I didn't mean it?"
"Heh...."
Natalia hadn't actually expected him to agree, either. It was just a passing thought she'd blurted out.
"Th-Th-Then...!"
"Then?"
Flustered, she lost her words completely. A rush of thoughts tangled together, clogging her throat like a holiday traffic jam.
"First... should we book a wedding hall?"
In the end, the words that managed to squeeze past her lips were pure nonsense.
Han Su-hyeon chuckled softly at her panic.
"Honestly, I'm fine with just registering the marriage. All that other stuff is just expensive vanity."
That suited Natalia perfectly.